Product Description
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Clint Eastwood directs O® winner Angelina Jolie and O®
nominee John Malkovich in a riveting and unforgettable true
story. Los Angeles, 1928. When single mother Christine Collins
(Jolie) leaves for work, her son vanishes without a trace. Five
months later, the reunite mother and son; but he isn't her
boy. Driven by one woman's relentless quest for the truth, the
case exposes a world of corruption, captivates the public and
changes Los Angeles forever. This emotionally gripping story
illustrates the profound power of a mother's love in "a
mesmerizing film that burns in the memory" (Peter Travers,
Rolling Stone).
Bonus Content:
* Partners in Crime: Clint Eastwood and Angelina Jolie
* The Common Thread: Angelina Jolie Becomes Christine Collins
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Clint Eastwood’s mastery as a director, established over the
past decade and a half with Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby,
Letters from Iwo Jima, and others, continues with Changeling, a
2008 offering based on a shocking but all-too-true story about
child abduction and corruption in 1920s Los Angeles.
Single mother Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie, excellent in a
role with somewhat limited parameters) finds her 9-year-old son,
Walter, missing when she returns home from work one day. She
files a report with the Los Angeles Department, an outfit
that was wildly unpopular at the time (in his regular radio
broadcast, a crusading pastor played by John Malkovich decries
the force as "violent and corrupt," adding that "our protectors
are our brutalizers"). When a child roughly matching Walter’s
description turns up in Illinois five months later, the LAPD,
intent on salvaging its tattered reputation, is only too eager to
cl that he is Collins’ missing child. Little matters that he’s
three inches shorter, is circumcised (Walter wasn’t), and fails
to pass muster with Walter’s dentist, schoolteacher, and others;
the cops, in particular the odious Captain J.J. Jones (Jeffrey
Donovan), insist that the mistake is Christine’s, not theirs.
What follows is almost too nightmarish to believe--except that it
actually happened. Exasperated by Collins’ continued cl that
"Walter" is a fraud, they trot out a doctor to reinforce the
bogus ID, declare her unfit as a mother, and finally have her
committed to a local psychopathic ward. Through it all, Collins,
bolstered by the pastor and thousands of outraged Angelenos,
refuses to sign a document that would exonerate the for
their egregious error. As for Walter, it’s only when the LAPD’s
seemingly only honest detective (Michael Kelly) takes matters
into his own hands that the grisly mystery of the child’s e
begins to be solved. That would have been a good place for the
film to conclude, too. Unfortunately, it goes on for more than
another half hour, with innumerable false endings that add
nothing to the story and could just as easily have been
summarized with a few sentences before the final credits. That
flaw aside (and it’s a major one), Changeling is a powerful film,
with a realistic period feel, a wonderfully muted vibe and color
palette, and an understated score by Eastwood himself. --Sam
Graham
Stills from Changeling (Click for larger image)